What is Massachusetts's road fatality rate?

Massachusetts has a road fatality rate of 4.9 per 100,000 population and 0.6 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This is 59.9% below the national average.

How many road fatalities occurred in Massachusetts in 2023?

In 2023, Massachusetts recorded 343 road fatalities. The state's total fatalities across the 2015-2023 period are 3,303.

What is the leading cause of road fatalities in Massachusetts?

The leading cause is nighttime, accounting for 48.6% of all fatalities (1,604 deaths over the reporting period).

Are road fatalities increasing or decreasing in Massachusetts?

Road fatalities in Massachusetts are stable with a -0.3% change over the reporting period (2015-2023). Fatalities went from 344 in 2015 to 343 in 2023.

How does Massachusetts compare to the national average for road safety?

Massachusetts's fatality rate of 4.9 per 100K is 59.9% lower than the national average of 12.2 per 100K. According to NHTSA FARS, Massachusetts ranks #51 of 51 states by fatality rate (highest first), the same sort as /rankings/deadliest-states. See /methodology#corpus-placement.

What percentage of Massachusetts's road fatalities involve alcohol?

Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for 25.0% of road fatalities in Massachusetts, representing 827 deaths over the reporting period. Speeding accounts for 25.0% and pedestrian incidents for 20.3%.

Are rural or urban roads more dangerous in Massachusetts?

In Massachusetts, urban roads account for more fatalities: 217 rural vs. 3,080 urban deaths. Rural roads account for 6.6% of all fatalities.

STATE FATALITY DATA - 2023

Massachusetts: lower-rate fatality band

Massachusetts is in the lower per-capita third: 343 traffic deaths in 2023 at 4.9 per 100,000 (#51 of 51).

Compiled by PlainRoadSafety · September 3, 2026

343
Deaths (2023): 4.9
Per 100k residents: Well below average; 0.6
Per 100M VMT: -92
2022–2023 deaths

Lower per-capita fatality band

Massachusetts ranks #51 of 51 by deaths per 100,000 residents (4.9/100k) - bottom-third rate among 51 states and D.C.

Massachusetts in the lower-rate third

According to NHTSA FARS, Massachusetts sits in the lower-rate third at 4.9 per 100k (#51 of 51), 60% below the U.S. 12.2 benchmark, with nighttime the largest contributing factor.

#51 of 51
lower-rate third: 4.9/100k
2023 fatality rate: #32/51
by total FARS fatalities: Nighttime
leading contributing factor

NHTSA FARS milepost

Milepost MA · Massachusetts #51 of 51 · 4.9/100k

Massachusetts · 4.9/100k · 343 in 2023 · #51 of 51

VS-US 4.9/100k
PHOTO #51 of 51
YOY 0.6/100M
FARS 3,303 book
NHTSA near New York
MILE 25.0% spd
BAND 20.3% ped
POST -59.9% vs US

Stamps derive from this state's NHTSA FARS row (per-100k rate, corpus rank, VMT rate, fatality book, nearest-rate peer, alcohol/speeding/pedestrian shares, vs-national gap), not a trip-risk forecast. PlainRoadSafety is informational only. See our disclaimer. Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Read with methodology → · Understanding road fatality data → · States ranked →

B-

Road Safety Index

66/100

Massachusetts

Benchmarked against all 51 states (50 states + DC) on fatality rate, exposure-adjusted rate, pedestrian and impaired-driving fatality share, and safety trend from NHTSA FARS, US Census Bureau, and FHWA sources, not enforcement, infrastructure spend, or road-condition ratings.

Fatality Rate A+

4.9/100k

Fatalities per 100,000 residents (NHTSA FARS + Census PEP population)

Exposure-Adjusted Rate A+

0.56/100M VMT

Fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (NHTSA FARS + FHWA Highway Statistics)

Pedestrian Safety F

20.3%

Share of fatalities that were pedestrians (NHTSA FARS)

Impaired-Driving Control C-

25.0%

Share of fatalities that were alcohol-impaired (NHTSA FARS)

Safety Trend F

-0.3%

Change in fatalities over the reporting period; negative is declining (NHTSA FARS)

Pedestrian-led roadside pattern in Massachusetts

After vehicle-to-vehicle crashes, Massachusetts's 2023 FARS first-harm leader is Pedestrian at 17.3%, a pedestrian-forward pattern relative to fixed-object states. Counts come from the NHTSA FARS accident microdata for 2023 (first harmful event, weather, light, route, and rural/urban setting), not from the seeded state rollup alone.

First harmful event

Motor Vehicle In-Transport 32.5% · 111
Pedestrian 17.3% · 59
Tree (Standing Only) 11.4% · 39
Guardrail Face 7.0% · 24
Curb 6.7% · 23

Light condition

Daylight 42.4% · 145
Dark - Lighted 31.9% · 109
Dark - Not Lighted 20.8% · 71
Dusk 2.9% · 10
Dawn 2.0% · 7

Roadway class

State Highway 32.7% · 112
Not Signed 32.2% · 110
Interstate 16.1% · 55
U.S. Highway 5.8% · 20
Unknown/Not Reported 0.6% · 2

Weather at crash

Clear 66.4% · 227
Cloudy 21.9% · 75
Rain 8.8% · 30
Fog, Smog, Smoke 1.2% · 4
Severe Crosswinds 0.6% · 2

Massachusetts

5
New York

6
District of …

7
Hawaii

7
New Jersey

7
Rhode Island

7

What this shows Massachusetts sits among the five nearest fatality-rate peers on the per-100k scale.

Nighttime

49
Unrestrained

40
Weather-Related

26
Alcohol-Impaired

25
Speeding

25
Pedestrian

20

What this shows Nighttime is the top contributing cause in Massachusetts, involved in 48.6% of all road deaths. Note: categories overlap as a single crash may involve multiple factors.

Massachusetts vs all states by fatality rate

Where this state's deaths-per-100k sits among every state and D.C. on PlainRoadSafety

5 Among the safer states a lower per-capita rate than 98% of 51 states

States and D.C., banded by fatality rate per 100,000 residents

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more states. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source NHTSA FARS over Census population · 2026-09-03

Massachusetts plotted against a representative sample of 26 of 51 states and D.C. by deaths per 100,000 residents (x) and deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (y). Dashed lines mark the national median across all 51, computed from the full corpus.

Massachusetts can rank differently on each axis: population density pushes the per-capita rate one way, and rural-highway commute length pushes the per-mile rate another. Hover or tap any point (including Massachusetts's own, highlighted) for its exact figures.

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

In the lower-rate third, Massachusetts moved from 344 deaths in 2015 to 343 in 2023 (-0.3%).

Year	Fatalities	Rate	Alcohol	Speeding	Pedestrian
2015	344	4.9	83	90	79
2016	387	5.5	124	124	78
2017	347	5.0	107	103	72
2018	355	5.1	118	91	77
2019	336	4.8	107	50	77
2020	343	4.9	88	77	52
2021	413	5.9	61	97	74
2022	435	6.2	62	104	95
2023	343	4.9	77	91	67

Worcester leads Massachusetts's county fatality book

Worcester County alone accounts for 14.6% of Massachusetts's 2,959 FARS fatalities over 2015-2023 (431 deaths); on a per-100k basis, Franklin sits higher at 9.9/100k.

#	County	Total Fatalities	Latest Year	Avg Annual	Trend
1	WORCESTER (27)	431	45	47.9	↑ increasing
2	MIDDLESEX (17)	410	43	45.6	↑ increasing
3	BRISTOL (5)	353	42	39.2	↑ increasing
4	HAMPDEN (13)	353	42	39.2	↑ increasing
5	NORFOLK (21)	293	37	32.6	↑ increasing
6	PLYMOUTH (23)	292	36	32.4	↑ increasing
7	ESSEX (9)	281	38	31.2	↑ increasing
8	SUFFOLK (25)	208	22	23.1	↑ increasing
9	BARNSTABLE (1)	113	12	12.6	↑ increasing
10	BERKSHIRE (3)	97	9	10.8	↑ increasing
11	HAMPSHIRE (15)	65	9	7.2	↑ increasing
12	FRANKLIN (11)	52	7	5.8	↑ increasing
13	DUKES (7)	7	1	0.8	↔ stable
14	NANTUCKET (19)	4	0	0.4	↔ stable

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Among lower-rate peers, New York (5.7/100k) and District of Columbia (6.5/100k) bracket Massachusetts's 4.9 per 100k.

6 of 50 other states are shown here, ranked by closeness to Massachusetts's fatality rate.

New York

5.7 per 100K

1,114 fatalities (2023)

District of Columbia

6.5 per 100K

44 fatalities (2023)

Hawaii

6.5 per 100K

93 fatalities (2023)

New Jersey

6.5 per 100K

606 fatalities (2023)

Rhode Island

6.5 per 100K

71 fatalities (2023)

Minnesota

7.1 per 100K

409 fatalities (2023)

Worcester County and related Massachusetts road data

Contextual links from this profile to rankings, tools, research, and peer geographies on PlainRoadSafety.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from official public datasets for Massachusetts (#51 of 51; volume #32/51). See our methodology. Retrieved and formatted by PlainRoadSafety · vintage 2026-09-03

Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Verify with Census →

Massachusetts: lower-rate fatality band

Pedestrian-led roadside pattern in Massachusetts

First harmful event

Light condition

Roadway class

Weather at crash

Massachusetts rate neighbourhood

Leading Causes of Fatalities

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

Worcester leads Massachusetts's county fatality book

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Worcester County and related Massachusetts road data